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Monday, 1 February 2010

Thought for the week - keeping it clean

Dries Van Noten A/W 2000

I was pillaging the show archives of Style.com last week for a forthcoming project. I was particularly impresses that the ready to wear and couture archives do go back to 2000 and I'm sure if I put in a request there would be a few for the end of the 20th century.

One thing I got struck by - possibly with the exception of Galliano was how under styled most of the shows were. Now a runway show has to not just sell the clothes but a whole look to boot. I'm not saying that shows didn't focus on hair, makeup, shoes or necklaces before but I was struck how the shift has gone more to creating ideas than garments. Not every designer resorts to this, Balmain is a case in point. The A/W 2009 collection was the most translated to the high street and it is no co-incidence the presentation of the collection was almost peachy clean in respect of the clothes doing the talking.

Balmain A/W 2009

It seems the stylist has blurred the old school routine of catwalk to editorial to consumer. Now its is collection to consumer (partly due to blogging) with magazines having to shoot fashion in more creative ways. Most consumers are not blogging and still get their collection visions from a wealth of fashion magazines, and those who don't read anything other than Country Living or the Boden catalogue, don't. (I did buy this months Country Living, it seemed the right thing to do on a shop in Waitrose) For some clothes and dressing passes them by.

I'm not suggesting for one minute that the spectacle of a show shouldn't happen but I was transported back to a time, not that long ago, when quelle horreur the front row was comprised of fashion editors and buyers and flat shoes were on some of their feet. Although the designer was presenting a collection for you to buy into, there seemed less of a desire to control the overall interpretation.

Don't get me wrong I do like a shift in makeup and hair but I'm beginning to understand why Wintour stays within a look that not only transcends the vagaries of design but enables her to access the merits of a collection with a more dispassionate eye.

Marc Jacobs A/W 2000

Dries Van Noten A/W 2000

I became beguiled by Dries Van Noten's 2000 Fall Ready to Wear collection and was reminded why I fell in love with Marc Jacobs with his collection of the same year. I've failed to embrace 'fierce' and these collections remind me why - I'm just a Bloomsbury set gal meets Park Ave Princess.

Dries Van Noten A/W 2000

Whilst most of you have no need in your daily toil to look back in detail at collections, if you do find a few moments then go back in time and see what inspires you for a clue to your style preferences. It helps to create a wardrobe of style not just high fashion.

Great post. I think my style came from huge influences of the 1960's Bardot, Fonda and Audrey Hepburn. I always seem to stick with a variation on the same theme. I wonder what I will do when I eventually get old.. become a recluse with 100's of dogs ???

I like to see crazy -- or at least complicated -- styles on the runway for entertainment purposes. I'm not going to dress like that but it does make me dream. I don't want to see people wearing a top/pants/jacket combo like I do nearly every day!

What a fantastic, thought-provoking post. And that first photo is arresting on the merit of the beautiful outfit alone!

You're so right about the fashion shows having become spectacles in their own right - I'm going to need to think more about this.

On the topic of the near miss at Zara, stay strong Honey! You did a great job getting out of there in one piece (with no new pieces?). What is it about the high-street stores and the urge they create to buy, buy, buy. Just don't go to Club Monaco. That's all I can say :-)

Understated style is as popular as it is practical: most people don't want to dress up these days. The more 'fluffy' dressers often opt for vintage, whereas, for the majority, there's a kind of 'uniform of cool'. It's only the label that says something's different - at least in terms of what an item costs. That's why, nowadays, labels are usually badges on the outside of garments and accessories.

This is a great idea (and I certainly didn't know that style.com keeps the shows for so long). It will give you a much bigger picture and I guess show certain 'red threads' of the designers. My only problem: finding the time!

My friend and I were recently discussing about how modern society has evolved to become so integrated with technology. Reading this post makes me think back to that discussion we had, and just how inseparable from electronics we have all become.

I don't mean this in a bad way, of course! Ethical concerns aside... I just hope that as the price of memory drops, the possibility of transferring our memories onto a digital medium becomes a true reality. It's one of the things I really wish I could see in my lifetime.

I relate to what you said about these early shows reminding you of your style loves - I just went back and looked at Prada S/S 2000, which blew me away when I first bought Vogue aged 19. My love for pleated silk skirts and pussybow blouses hasn't waned yet! I remember the buzz I felt when I found a genuine ostrich skin 60s handbag in a charity shop....